Crazy idea re: interior doors

[Mike Buelow]

I have two door openings in my house that are of odd heights due to the 1 1/2 story nature of the house.

I have 4 or 5 Oak (pine core) paneled interior doors that I got surplus and are left over after changing all the other doors in my house to the same.

I'm thinking about cutting one of these doors in cross-wise and rejoining them so that the would fit in the openings, yet the aspect ratios of the raised panels would be the same as the other doors.

It sounds really dumb but I'm just gonna dump the remaining doors on craigslist, so I have nothing to lose., plus they are all being painted so no worries there.

Any thoughts? Could addition of biscuits or dowels help make it happen?

TIA

[Frank Snyder]

You're right. Mike. That is a crazy idea. Were you going to cut them mid-rail or mid-panel? You're basically weakening the backbone of the door by cutting the stiles. I would think you would want to use a deep loose tenon in the stiles to try and regain some of the doors strength. To keep the rail or panel in plane, several biscuits could probably do the trick. You'll also see the joint where you made the cut. If your cut isn't square or straight, then you'll really have problems with the door when you go to hang it.

Personally, I think this would be a lot more trouble than its worth. If the door just needs its height adjusted a few inches, I would be more inclined to cut the bottom of the door first and if that wasn't enough, then remove some material from the top. The jamb and hinge gains would also need to be adjusted as well (if the gains have already been cut). You'll lose the proportions of the stiles and rails, but I would choose this evil over a door that could potentially not function properly and look like someone cut it in half. I made all of my interior doors for my 87-year old house to fit their idiosyncratic openings, so I understand how hard it is to find pref-fab doors to fit.

[Roy Wall]

Mike -

I have done the same as Frank stated for a couple doors less than the normal 80". After the trimming top and bottom...I think they are at 77" and virtually unnoticeable compared to other 6 panel doors in the house.

[Mike Buelow]

One door is to a crawl space type closet that is less than 6' high, so trimming top and bottom is not an option.

If not, I can always go with a manufactured flat (no panel) door, but maybe I'll give this a shot since no one is really interested in paying me for these leftover doors. Good idea on the M&loose Tenon.

Will post photos if it turns out semi presentable. I always get nervous sharing "hillbilly engineering" projects like this in public.

[Ben Grunow]

If they are coped rail and stile with loose panels I would not cut them across the panels. Cut up from the bottom along the joint between the bottom rail and the side stiles, then across the joint between teh middle stile and the top of the bottom rail and remove the bottom rail. Do what you have to to get the bottom panels out and then cut them to size (re from panel detail on TS ot RT whatever) and re install. Then replace the bottom stile with a new piece (it will be 2 saw blades too short) using long screws and biscuits. THe only sticking point is the profile that was machined onthe top of the bottom rail. If you amke the horizontal cut just below the profile you could save it and nail it on later. Hill billy it I guess.

Ben